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Scientific Name Clarias pachynema  Boulenger, 1903
Common Name
Type Locality Ja River, southern Cameroon.
Synonym(s) Clarias esamesae, Clarias oxycephalus
Pronunciation klar ee ass
Etymology Clarias: From the Greek chlaros, meaning lively; in reference to the ability of the fish to live for long periods out of water. 
Hop to next section Species Information
Size 356mm or 14" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification Clarias species are characterized by having an elongated body; a soft rayed dorsal fin extending to, or nearly to, the caudal fin base; a soft rayed anal fin extending from just behind the anus to the caudal fin base; pectoral fins each with a serrated anterior bony spine; head depressed, covered largely by firmly sutured, surface sculptured bony plates forming a protective helmet; four pairs of flagellate barbels (nasals, maxillaries, inner and outer mandibulars); air breathing organs derived from the 2nd and 4th epibranchials within a superbranchial chamber.

Head pointed in dorsal outline; snout short; eyes dorsally located. Frontal fontanelle long and narrow (`knife-shaped'); occipital process long and oval-shaped. The `dermosphenotic' and supraorbital bones joined in specimens over 80 mm SL. Tooth plates small. gill rakers long, slender and distantly set. Suprabranchial organ well developed. Openings of the secondary sensory canals regularly arranged on flanks.
Sexing The genital papilla, which is to the right of the anus as you look at the fish with its head to the left, is elongated and pointed in males while it is round and relatively larger (and larger than the anus) in females. In ventral view especially, females are much broader in the body than males of equal age and rearing practices.
General Remarks Fishbase lists 356 mm TL.
Hop to next section Habitat Information
Distribution Africa: coastal rivers of south Cameroon (up to the Sanaga river); in the Ogowe system in Gabon and Middle Congo system.
African Waters, Congo, Middle Congo (click on these areas to find other species found there)
African Waters, Gabon Waters, Ogowe (click on these areas to find other species found there)

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IUCN Red List Category Least Concern, range map and more is available on the IUCN species page. Last assessed 2019.
Hop to next section Husbandry Information
Suggested Tankmates Large cyprinids (Silver Sharks, Tinfoil or Spanner Barbs for example) or Central American Cichlids.
Breeding Unreported.
Breeding Reports There is no breeding report.
Hop to next section Further Information
Reference Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Series 7) v. 12 (no. 70) (art. 42), pp 438.
Registered Keepers There is no registered keeper.
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Last Update 2020 Sep 25 00:25 (species record created: 2003 Oct 08 00:00)